British fast-charging battery start-up Nyobolt has raised £50 million in Series B funding to build a UK manufacturing plant in 2023 to produce millions of battery cells.

Nyobolt has been developing battery anodes using niobium and tungsten – both stable metals often used to strengthen steel or create steel alloys – that could enable electric vehicles (EVs) to charge in minutes.

The battery company, which is based in Cambridge, is currently focusing on high-performance racing EVs, but executives say its batteries could be ready for use in mass-market EV models later this decade.

‘”We are excited to move our technologies from development to deployment in the market. We founded Nyobolt following the discovery of new anode technologies containing tungsten with remarkable fast-charging capability to bring these properties to the market in applications touching all aspects of daily life,” said Professor Clare Grey, Chief Scientist & Co-founder of Nyobolt.

“The funding from H.C. Starck will help Nyobolt to scale up our operations in the UK and the United States and bring a more sustainable solution into the energy storage industry.”

The funding round was led by H.C. Starck Tungsten Powders, a unit of Vietnamese mining company Masan High-Tech Materials, one of the world’s largest tungsten suppliers. Through a strategic partnership, Germany-based H.C. Starck will help Nyobolt scale up manufacturing and its battery recycling program.

“Nyobolt’s technology is a real breakthrough that we can help commercialize based on our vast experience in transferring innovative solutions into large-scale manufacturing,” said Hady Seyeda, CEO of H.C. Starck Tungsten Powders.

“This partnership is also going to accelerate the development toward a circular economy for batteries via enhanced recycling and new models of use.”